Happy Travels
by OveliaGirlHaditRight
Summary: AU. A story that's a mix of Final Fantasy XV and some Versus elements, that tries to make fans of both happy. For instance, this story will be half Noctella and half Noctluna. Half Noctella until Stella eventually dies (and yes, I'm warning you now that that will eventually happen), and then it's half Noctis and Luna after that.


As ridiculous as it was to be focusing on such trivial things right now, Stella stared down at the brown dress she was wearing and wondered if it was the best idea to be presenting herself to Prince Noctis in it... As a summer, she wasn't exactly sure that chocolate was her color at all.

But what could she say? She was tired of wearing white around him—and didn't want him to think she was still so naive and innocent... but black was too much for her, because she wasn't a dark-spirited person at all… She also very much didn't want to be accused of being a harlot by wearing pure red, so perhaps she'd found a happy medium between ebony and crimson. But Stella could only hope that that was the case.

Stella was welcomed into King Regis' throne room by Ignis (though they were here for Noct and not Regis)—who bowed and was polite as always, if not a little flustered given the enormous situation.

"It's good to see you, Lady Stella," Ignis whispered, as he took the blonde's arm in his own and led her to a secret passage behind the throne, which was where Noctis was now hiding. "And I trust that Prince Ravus and Princess Lunafreya are doing well?"

"Luna," Stella urgently but kindly corrected Ignis, as she patted his hand. "My little sister goes by 'Luna'. I have no idea why our mother, Sylva, gifted her with such a mouthful of a name, when Ravus and I were both coined something simple. But all of us hate Luna being the outlier there—so ''Luna', it is.

"But I, of course, didn't expect you to know any of this, Sir Ignis! You'd no way of doing so, since you've never met my little sister personally and since the media refers to her as 'Lunafreya'."

Ignis slightly giggled and smiled at Stella after her tirade, and she could only guess that it was done so in approval—since Noct himself didn't speak so normally, even though Stella had heard that Ignis wanted him to.

"And how I very much wish to meet Lunaf—Luna—in person one day, my lady. The world only has great things to say about the Oracle—as does Noct, from the little bit he seems to know of her. And your sister seems very... sweet, if you don't mind my saying, with how she apparently loves stickers so much, that all of Eos knows it. No doubt she bonds strongly with the children she heals that way."

This was all very true, and Luna to a T. It was why Stella and their family loved the youngest Nox Fleuret so much, since she had a child's soul and it was clear for the public to see, too.

And Stella would have told Ignis all of this, if they hadn't finally made it to wear Noctis was in the passage.

And Ignis must have noticed the looks that Stella was giving Noctis and him her, because he very quietly and gracefully departed. And the moment he did, Stella was in his arms.

The pair did not kiss. Rather, Noctis ran a soothing hand through Stella's hair as she cried into his chest.

"Noctis," the rapier-wielder sobbed, "I'm _so_ sorry. I had _no_ idea that the prophecy had that in store for you. We must fight it!"

Which _was_ what they were doing now, somewhat, with Noctis hiding away in his own home until he could eventually escape his father. But Stella feared that it wasn't enough.

"Shh," Noctis replied, almost seeming to be somewhat chuckling while he did it—something that made Stella so mad, she could've punched him and nearly did. "It's fine, Stell. Look: I'm not going to lie and say this all isn't a nightmare, but I'm pretty strong… I should be fine."

And _there_ was that arrogance he'd displayed right after he'd thought King Regis had been murdered and wanted to avenge him-before they'd all learned what a slithering snake the man was—and Stella might have been impressed by it, if she wasn't also so scared for it.

"So, what's your plan to get out of here, then?" Stella asked incredulously, with an eyebrow raised. "Your father has the whole city looking for you. And while he hasn't found this secret passage yet, when Insomnia shows no sign of you… he might come back here and see you escaping. I'm also genuinely baffled that he hasn't found out that Ignis is on _your_ side."

Thankfully, Regis still thought Stella was against Noctis—because of the time that she had been—since most of the countries hated Lucis for having the only crystal left… Not understanding that that meant Noctis had to die in using his crystal to end the Starscourge: something Stella would stop him from doing, if it killed her.

Noctis winked at Stella, as he leaned his face so close to hers that she thought he might kiss her. "Fortunately, there's a pretty girl here who I kind of look like. And if I dress like her when I leave, the media may just think I'm Stella Nox Fleuret, doing my sworn duty to end the prince."

Stella sighed. And not for the first time, she regretted that Noctis had recently dyed his hair to be like hers.

But as she really had no other plan to get her love out of Insomnia and to Galdin Quay, like they needed to go, Stella summoned her rapier to hand—still wondering how she was even able to do that, when she wasn't of the line of Lucis—and gave it to Noct… And she selfishly prayed that as he did this, he didn't make "her" look fat on camera.

A few days later, Stella, Noctis, and Ignis made it to Galdin Quay without too much preamble. Annoyingly, Noctis' plan had gone off without a hitch, and now all Stella had to do was convince this dodgy Dino character to help them and _not_ alert to the world that he'd just seen the crown prince of Lucis.

But Stella had this. She, after all, was the Nox Fleuret that no one had known what to do with, and thus had been sent to journalism school and she prepared to make full use of that fact now.

"You won't say anything, Dino," Stella said, as she leaned towards where Dino was sitting on his bench and looked at him threateningly… something that Noctis seemed to approve of, as he wolf-whistled. "If you do, it'll cause a war and you know it. And you wouldn't want that. If a war starts, no one will be able to buy your newspapers."

"And if you let me rot in jail, Miss Fleuret—because I _don't_ think you're going to let me walk away like you say you are—you won't be able to get all of the pretty jewels that you love so much. And I'm responsible for their existence in these parts, don't you know?"

The three friends collectively sighed, but Stella could tell it was Ignis who was the most perturbed. This had all started when Dino had recently tried blackmailed them into finding gems for them, and now they were just going around in circles.

And ugh! The nerve of this jerk, in insinuating that she was materialistic just because she was a princess and loved fashion!-

Stella was _so_ angry, that she was about to pick Dino up by his collar and slam him into something—already forgetting that it was partly because he thought they'd be violent towards him that he was now acting the way he was—but thankfully, Noctis seemed to guess what she was about to do and put a reassuring hand on Stella's shoulder to halt her.

"Bribery isn't a thing we've tried here? Right, Stell? Right, Iggy? Anyway, I see you eyeing the Ring of the Lucii here, Dino... What do you think about me letting you borrow it?"

Stella and Ignis blanched at Noctis' words. And while Stella had thought that Noctis had had some street smarts to him in the past, now she _really_had to wonder.

"Noct!" Ignis protested, seeming like he was about to steal said Ring from his prince's careless hands if he wasn't careful. "_Having_ the Ring may be the only way to undo your hideous fate. Why would you _ever_ give it up?"

But apparently Noctis had sized the situation up better than the other two had. Sighing, as he ran a hand over his face, Noct answered: "Because I saw the glint in Dino's eyes here when he first noted the Ring. My guess is that he at least wants to try and copy it right now. So if I go so far as to lend it to him, he won't stab me in the back or _not_ give it back. Will you, Dino? Not when I'm letting you make a copy of the Ring, to do with what you will. Right?"

"No, boss," said Dino, as he gleefully scratched his nose now—something that Stella rolled her eyes at, as he seemed to be trying to be a cool anime character—"I have no reason to betray you at all, do I ?"

And before neither Stella or Ignis could say anything to still try and cautious Noctis, he was giving away his precious cargo and securing them passage for the next day...

Though even _if_ there being two Rings of the Lucii would mean that Noctis could fight back against his eventual fate, she still thought he too easily gave away a possible bargaining chip for other parts of his journey.

...

There was electricity in the air, as Noctis and Stella stood in a room in Galdin Quay's leville together.

And while there was a large part of Stella that wanted to jump Noctis' bones—she wouldn't deny it—she didn't, for right now they needed to talk about things like responsible adults.

"Noct… I _do_ get what you did with the Ring, but what are we going to do when we get back to Tenebrae now? As Oracle, Luna could've looked at the Ring and found a way to free you of its curse, but now-"

"…It was our only chance, Stella, and you know it. You too heard the footsteps of Niflheim soldiers coming up behind us, didn't you? Soldiers and MTs that would have been too happy to deposit me back on my father's doorstep. Only my putting the Ring in Dino's hands that exact moment, allowed him to put us in his ship that circled us around Galdin Quay until they disappeared."

Noctis had a hand on Stella's cheek now, and it made her feel _so_ loved. She got the sense that he was saying that—even though he didn't want it—he'd made peace with the idea of his death… and it was mostly _her_ that he didn't want to see die, which was why he'd acted as he had.

"Also, Stella… not that I doubt Luna. You know I don't," Noctis said with his lips so close to Stella's now, that it was positively sinful that he didn't just give in and stop torturing her. "But isn't her duty as Oracle to fight against the Plague of the Stars no matter what? So why would she help me if I'm doubting my own role in that all now?"

Despite the electrical current that had been passing between Stella and Noctis so readily here, she felt it give away some—and the old "enemies walls come back up—when Noct began doubting her little sister's heart some.

"…Because you know what a humanitarian Luna is, Noctis... And even of her crush on you, don't you? So of _course_, she wouldn't want you to die to save the world and would rather look to find another way."

Outside, it began snowing of all things—something that never happened in Galdin Quay, or so Stella was told—and it fit perfectly what Noctis said much, that restored the mood.  
"I guess… I guess I shouldn't doubt her, huh? When I was trying to convince your family that you weren't crazy for coming over to my side again, I bought Luna a white puppy to go along with her black one. And I know how much she loves Pryna…"

But it wasn't only Luna who loved Pryna. Pryna had been a blessing in Stella's life, too, and she reached up on her tiptoes to kiss the man who had brought so much good to her life, honestly, and that who hopefully the gods would _not_ take away from her.

"Thank you for that, Noctis," Stella whispered as she leaned in and kissed the back of Noctis' neck now, with tears in her eyes.

...

The next day—as the trio prepared to go to Altissia and then Tenebrae—Stella expected a bomb to go off… or something worse, since she couldn't help feeling that they were getting off too easily lately. But no such thing happened. Instead, she found herself enjoying the breeze as she stood on Dino's ship, but wishing she had a hat to wear to keep her hair from flying all over the place.

And eventually—surely after he'd woken up more—Noctis stood behind Stella with his arms wrapped around her waist and his head buried in her hair, as they both stood there solemnly. It was clear to Stella that Noctis had feared last night that he'd also somehow lose her—as Stella had worried for him—and that feeling hadn't disappeared yet.

But halting the young adults' depressing thoughts, was Ignis. He stepped towards where they were at in the center of the boat and cleared his throat. "Not to intrude on your moment, Highnesses, but we need to talk about who we can trust."

This made Stella grimace: She knew well how Gladio's recent betrayal had cut Noctis to the quick… and now everyone was unsure of Prompto since he was from Niflheim (that was why he wasn't here now).

And while Stella of course understood why Ignis was bringing this all up now—because they needed a game plan—there _was_ a part of her unfairly mad at him for bringing about all this pain for Noctis again, when he was already feeling down.

"…We can trust Vyv… Well as much as we can trust Dino, anyway. He'll help us if we promise him good pictures of us to put in his articles" Stella muttered, surprising even herself that she was saying this and not mentioning her own siblings first. But that was obvious, so Stella had then chosen the only other person she could think of. "And wouldn't you know that he's also going to Altissia for some photography?"

Ignis seemed like he had a lot to question about this, if Stella was reading his face right, but he didn't press the issue right away.

Instead, he went over to the captain and told him to head back to Galdin Quay?! Stella couldn't make sense of _this_, even though she didn't doubt Ignis at all, when this was perhaps saying she should. What had he thought that she was wrong, and that Vyv was still in Lestallum?

Right away, the captain seemed to try and follow Ignis' request. But since he'd already been pulling the ship away from the port, he had to force it into a rough halt to try and getting going back the way they'd come. And this sent saltwater upon saltwater spraying into the ship, that poured into the captain's bloodied hands and had him hissing in pain.

And seeing this as the bad omen it surely was, Stella rushed over to the man's side and ripped part of her shirt off so she could bandage his hands and apologized profusely. "I'm so sorry about what just happened here, Sir. I think- I think my friend was confused. We're going to Altissia. And I'll help you spin the wheel to get us there, if you'd like. I'll also compensate you for your injuries." And Stella made sure to show him her royal seal, just so he knew who he was dealing with and could believe her words.

"I- I'm so sorry," Ignis spoke brokenly, as he came to the captain himself now and rubbed the man's back to try and make him feel better _that_way. "I have no idea what came over me to tell you to go back to Galdin Quay. I've heard of daemons being able to confuse their targets before, but I-"

"It's alright, Ignis. Don't worry about it. The way you've taken care of me my entire life—and had to remember so much—… well, anyone would be tired from that."

This was Noctis, of course, saying what Stella felt… but she wasn't entirely sure she believed it, either. Could it have been that Ignis was secretly keeping up correspondence with King Regis to throw him off, and was now getting confused?

Or worse… could he have been on Regis' side himself?

Summoning her rapier to hand again, but trying to be discreet about it, Stella promised herself that she was going to work to strengthen whatever magic it was that allowed her to do this.

…

Stella saw the ocean city of Altissia beginning to show up before her very eyes seven hours later, and it was a sight to behold. It only came second to Tenebrae in her opinion, since she preferred floating plants to water in the sky, but it was still _gorgeous_.

Once they were getting out of the ship, and showing their passes to some Altissian figureheads—Stella found herself asking Noctis something she really should have from the get-go: "I assume you set up a secret P.O. Box here, and that's where Dino's sending the Ring to when he's eventually done with it?"

"...Y-yeah. That was the plan," Noctis said in an almost embarrassed manner, with his hands in his pockets and a blush staining his cheeks as the three friends walked on the dock into the city.

"Then I suggest we find it now, and whisper even quieter about it," Ignis quipped, with a hand on both Stella and Noctis' shoulders both as he looked at them as though he was scolding children.

So they took off to do exactly that.: after a near hour of trying to figure out the map and the streams, the trio found themselves in a gondola—ending up at the basement of a restaurant with a pinball machine in it, that Stella knew both Noct and Ignis were itching to get to. But in the back of the basement was a secret passage that led to the storage locker, rather than a P.O. box, where the Ring was.

Noctis twisted the tumbler to the storage locker in an agitated manner, but it opened with a loud CREAK and there the Ring was: proven by the fact that Stella thought she could already see Noctis aging the moment he put it on.

"Noctis," Stella said, kissing his cheek as she spoke, so he would know the love she felt for him when she said these next words. "Now that you know it's truly the Ring of the Lucii, and that Dino didn't pull a fast one on you... take it off. None of us want you to start dying."

Noctis didn't have to be told twice.

He had a faraway look on his face, as though he was remembering the Ring stealing his father's life force away, back when he cared, and then he ripped it off-putting it into the pocket of his jeans.

""Good, then," Ignis smiled now: clearly as eager for Noctis to be rid of wearing the Ring as she is. "Things are actually going swimmingly right now, I think. Now all we need is to meet Vyv, like Lady Stella suggested, and head fo-"

But Ignis didn't get to finish that sentence, for at that exact moment a sentinel stabbed him through the shoulder with a flag.

As brothers who had fought together so long, Noct was by Ignis' side at once—stuffing a potion down his throat, that brought some color to his cheeks again—before using his arminger attack to send numerous of his weapons at the MTs.

And while Stella wasn't quite as skilled as Noctis, she tried to be fast and fluent—so that her blade was leaving sparks in many enemies', too, and causing them to fall—but what actually did make them fall in the end, was the leader of Accordo, Camelia, coming their way with her lover Weskham hot on her heels.

And she looked at Noctis as though she wanted him to prove to her that he wasn't like his father… and yet the MTs obeyed her every command, because she was clearly in bed with Niflheim the way that even King Regis was now.

"Camelia, speaking as someone who was once hoodwinked from Niflheim… how could you eve-"

But she wasn't listening to Stella at all, and instead telling Noctis, "As petty as it is, my dear Weskham wants revenge on King Regis for being a terrible friend. So tell me your plight, oh prince of Lucis, and I may be willing to help in your cause."


End file.
